The Gambia

Answer to Prayer

The degree of religious freedom and relatively amicable relationships between Islam and Christianity in the Gambia are noteworthy. There is greater openness than in most Muslim countries, although much of the freedom may be from a lack of ambition by the Gambian Church to do more direct outreach to Muslims. Even so, pray that the relative harmony and freedom in the religious sphere might enable the good news to impact this nation to a much greater degree.

Challenge for Prayer

Missionary work was pioneered by Anglicans and Methodists and mostly confined to the Aku (Creole-speaking descendants of freed slaves in Banjul). Nominalism is a challenge in most denominations, although the ministries of the above and of the Mennonites have had a valuable impact in development, education and medical work, especially among the Jola and Manjako. Many newer ministries from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia and Cameroon have recently started. These have greatly added to the harvest force and the vitality of church and mission efforts. In all cases, the nominal Christian population receives much more spiritual attention than the unreached Muslim majority. Pray for effective ministry of expatriate Christian groups in demonstrating the good news. Pray also for nominal Christians to discover a genuine life in Jesus.

     For an additional 5 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.